JOP - Java Optimized Processor

This site is designated for a processor design to implement the Java Virtual
Machine in hardware. It is part of a PhD
thesis
at the Vienna University of Technology, Austria.
The goal of this development is a simple and small Java processor optimized to execute
Java bytecode.

Java, a popular programming language on desktop system, is seldom used in embedded systems.
Some features of Java, like thread support in the language, can greatly simplify development
of embedded systems, but the common implementations of the JVM (Java Virtual Machine),
as interpreter or just-in-time compiler, are not practical.

This site describes an alternative approach: JOP (a Java Optimized Processor) is
a hardware implementation of the JVM with predictable execution time for embedded real-time systems.

Due to the small size of the processor, it can be implemented in a low cost FPGA.
For low volume systems, the flexibility of an FPGA can be of more importance then
the slightly higher cost compared to conventional processors.

JOP is one way to use a configurable Java processor in small embedded real-time systems.
It shall help to increase the acceptance of Java for these systems.

Complete VHDL source and tools in Java are available for download.
JOP is open-source under the GNU General Public License, version 3.
For discussion with other JOP users a yahoo
group
is available (
Click to join java-processor
).